What beautiful contrast this dining room has with the mahogany table, chairs and ceiling and the creme walls! Such a beautifully shaped dining room as well!
Anna stared Take the Side Street, a blog dedicated to the 5 D’s (decor, design, DIY, doughnuts & dumb stuff) in August 2010 and has been attacking home projects and maple bars since then. She lives nearish to such fabulous places as Yellowstone and Jackson Hole and takes advantage of the time her husband spends out fly fishing to knock holes in things or rip up carpet. Together with her husband she has two young sons, the world’s only high strung Golden Retriever, a cat with an attitude, a depressingly long-lived goldfish, and 5 chickens (because everybody knows that the 7th wedding anniversary gift theme is poultry, but even more so because she doesn’t think decisions through properly).
She believes in being authentic, having fun, trusting your gut and never taking yourself too seriously. Oh, and in maple bars. And cute shoes… and in being kind and recycling. And lists.
How did you spend your weekend? I painted my dining room!
It only took me 2 1/2 years of wanting to get around to doing — way to go, me! My dining room is my least favorite room to paint because of all the doors and trim I have to paint around, so while I’ve wanted to paint the trim forever, I knew it would be a beast…
…and I was right.
Two rolls of painters tape, sixteen (!) total hours of serious painting, one tube of high-wire painter’s caulk, and several doses of ibuprofen for neck spasms later, and I’m still incredibly glad I went to the trouble. For me the cost (in labor), while high, was worth the end result… let me say though: I’d never do it again. Ha!
Friends: painting over wood paneling can be tricky enough because it can bleed through if you don’t prime it right (with oil-based stain blocking primer), and if it’s tongue and groove like mine it can be full of nooks and crannies that need to be caulked. In addition, painting ceilings is something most people don’t look forward to in the first place… but vaulted ceilings made of glossy orange tongue and groove paneling, well that’s pretty much my own personal little seventh circle of painting hell.So if I ever move to another house with this sort of ceiling and I decide to paint it on my own, please slap me upside the head and remind me I promised to hire painters.
Back to the joy, though… love my dining room! Love it, love it, love it! It’s so bright, and although I originally left the beams dark to appease the husband (men and their stained wood, go figure), I actually like the contrast and I think it ties the ceiling in nicely to all the dark wood windows in the room and throughout the house.
I had to run right out to my front yard and pick some Lilies of the Valley to celebrate.
Here’s a reminder of how the room used to look:
and here are a couple more after shots!
Do you like the change as much as I do? Because I need someone to tell me I’m normal for wanting to pitch a tent and live in there for a few days.
Cassity Kmetzsch started Remodelaholic after graduating from Utah State University with a degree in Interior Design. Remodelaholic is the place to share her love for knocking out walls, and building everything back up again to not only add function but beauty to her home. Together with her husband Justin, they have remodeled 6 homes and are working on a seventh. She is a mother of four amazing girls. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.
Perfectly normal! It’s so fresh and bright in there now – before it was bright but still dark. Now things pop in the space, and the eye is drawn to the view from the windows rather than up to the ceiling. Great job!
The cream really makes the ceiling rafters stand out and makes this a very elegant space. It’s amazing the change in lighting–it seems completely naturally lit now. Great redesign!
That is a really good tip particularly to those
fresh to the blogosphere. Brief but very accurate info… Appreciate your sharing this one.
A must read post!
Perfectly normal! It’s so fresh and bright in there now – before it was bright but still dark. Now things pop in the space, and the eye is drawn to the view from the windows rather than up to the ceiling. Great job!
Ha! You are definitely NORMAL. IT LOOKS GREAT.
The cream really makes the ceiling rafters stand out and makes this a very elegant space. It’s amazing the change in lighting–it seems completely naturally lit now. Great redesign!
That is a really good tip particularly to those
fresh to the blogosphere. Brief but very accurate info… Appreciate your sharing this one.
A must read post!